Why Fruit Prices are Low. — In spite of all the fruit 



grown in this country, hundreds of good-sized country 

 villages are without any regular supply in their season. 

 Every neighborhood has some fruit, but village grocers 

 lack the energy to make arrangements for a regular sup- 

 ply when needed. The reason alleged is, that the de- 

 mand for fruit is not sufficient to warrant them a regular 

 profit on their purchases. Rural consumers will usually 

 buy only when prices are low. — Co/i/ian's Rural World. 



Artificial Bitter Almonds are being manufactured 

 in considerable quantities. They are composed chiefly 

 of grape sugar, with an extremely small quantity of nitro" 

 benzole, which gives them the flavor of oil of bitter al- 

 monds. They are pressed in a mould, which causes 

 their external appearance to resemble natural almonds 

 so well that when a number of the false seeds are mixed 

 with the true ones, the deception is exceedingly difficult 

 to detect by mere inspection. Owing to the low price of 

 the false seeds, the adulteration is, of course, highly 

 profitable. — LancL-t. 



Spring Pruning of Grape Vines. — P. C. Reynolds, 

 in the New York Trilnme, says that two grape 'vines 

 pruned in the spring, after the buds had pushed an inch 

 or more, bore more grapes than the same varieties pruned 

 the previous fall. The last year's canes were cut back 

 to two or three buds, leaving as the leading buds those 

 that had made the strongest growth. The canes bled 

 very little, much less than when pruned in March. 

 They made as rank a growth of wood as usual. 



Paying for Trees \A/ith a Crop. — A Missouri man 

 has recently arranged to have an orchard of 1,000 trees 

 set on rather queer terms. A nursery firm will furnish 

 the trees and take their choice of any one crop within 15 

 years after the planting of the orchard, the owner of the 

 land to plant and care for the trees. — Michigan Farmer- 



Silver Firs. — There is a striking picturesqueness and 

 grandeur about a group of silver firs, now known as 

 Abies proper, which the landscape architect gladly ap- 

 propriates for producing conspicuous effects in his plans. 

 The main distinguishing characteristic in this group of 

 conifers is clusters of cones near the top which always 

 stand erect, and fall to pieces at maturity. The whole 

 family are addicted to forming two or more leading 

 shoots when young, and if not attended to promptly, the 

 trees will be irreparably injured. The following sug- 



gestive list embraces the most reliable species for the 

 Middle States. Everything considered, I head the list 

 with the beautiful Nordmann's fir from the Crimea. 

 The abundance of rich, deep, glossy-green foliage, cov- 

 ering a faultless shape, rapidity of growth, entire hardi- 

 ness, and general adaptability to most soils, are certainly 

 valuable qualities. The Cephalonian silver fir in time 

 forms a superb specimen. The tint of its foliage is much 

 lighter than the preceding, and makes a beautiful con- 

 trast when grouped together. It also grows rapidly after 

 becoming established. Our own species from the Rocky 

 Mountains of Colorado, Abies concolor, is now becoming 

 too well known to need eulogizing here. It is, however, 

 so beautiful, hardy and thoroughly reliable, that no mis- 

 take will be made in including it in the choicest collec- 

 tion of conifers. There is a wide diversity in tints, the 

 silvery whiteness of some being exceptionably charming. 

 The Noble silver fir [.Hies nobilis), after a careful test 

 of more than thirty years, I confidently recommend for 

 general planting. Its growth is somewhat slow, but it is 

 always beautiful from the start. It is of a peculiar bluish 

 green tint, dense and compact, with an erect and spire- 

 like form. The Siberian fir (Abies Siberica, formerly 

 known as A. pichta) is a compact, medium-sized ever- 

 green, with regular conical outline and deep green 

 somber-like foliage. It comes from Siberia. It grows 

 slowly, and is especially adapted for small places. Not- 

 withstanding the common European silver fir is unrelia- 

 ble in this country, two or three distinct forms of it are 

 worthy of cultivation. Of these, var. pyramidalis is 

 remarkably stiff, upright and dense in structure, with a 

 deep glossy color, and retains its well-marked charac- 

 ters during the coldest winters. A dwarf variety is 

 notable for exceedingly compact, rounded shape and 

 beautiful bright green foliage. If slightly sheltered, it 

 holds its color all winter long. The drooping form, 

 known as pendula, makes a very picturesque object when 

 well grown and carefully trained ; neglected and in un- 

 suitable soil, it is the very reverse. The silver firs all 

 prefer a deep loamy soil, and never attain their perfect 

 development in stiff clay. — Josiah Hoopes, in New York 

 Tribune 



A new Dwarf Pea of the most promising character 

 has been received from Messrs. Charles Sharp & Co., of 

 Seaford. It appeared in a patch of Veitch's Perfection. 



